Kyly Larriviere

And Her Platform Shoes

By Bonnie Warren

Kyly Larriviere, a one-time model who now owns the authentic French candy and goods shop La Riviere Confiserie on Magazine Street, says she loves all things French. Her favorite style includes wedgie platform shoes, straight lines and feminine classic tailored clothes. She subscribes to Coco Chanel’s mantra: ‘Beauty begins the moment you start to be yourself.’

Cheryl Gerber

Kyly Larriviere eats chocolates, spends a month in Paris each summer and loves wedgies with platforms. She also owns the premiere candy shop in town – La Riviere Confiserie on Magazine Street. A pretty woman with long legs and a ready smile, Kyly says her personal style motto is: “Keep it simple, elegant and sensual. Play to your personal strengths. Know who you are and have a keen sense of identity.” she says. “I subscribe to what Coco Chanel had to say on the subject: ‘Beauty begins the moment you start to be yourself.’”

A one-time model, Kyly explains that she likes straight lines and feminine classic tailoring. She says she believes in playing to your best features and taking good care of your skin. “I believe in a policy of no or very little makeup during the day,” she says.

A resident of New Orleans since 2012, Kyly moved here with her husband, Dr. Daniel Larriviere, a neurologist who is vice chairman of neurology for Ochsner Medical Center, and their twin daughters, Aiden and Ella, who attend one of the local French immersion schools. Kyly herself attended kindergarten and first grade in Lagos, Nigeria before coming back to the U.S. for a few years. She left the country again to live in Beirut, Lebanon for the seventh grade. “We left Beirut because of the war,” she says. “We moved to Los Angeles, and then on to Palm Beach, Florida, where it was my good fortune to spend all of my high school years.”

“I still recall attending kindergarten in Africa in a building with a thatched roof and a strict British teacher,” she says. “I remember playing in tall grass where I had to watch out for cobras and scorpions, and when we went horseback riding we had to be back before dark because the baboons that lived along the cliff were emboldened and aggressive after nightfall.”

Her father was an international marketing specialist and her mother had a degree in social work. “She had taught at Northwestern University before I was born,” she says. Kyly graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees in biology and biomedical ethics.

It seems only fitting that she would open a high-end French candy and goods store since both she and her husband’s grandparents hail from the Pays-Basque region of France. “We both are proud of our French heritage,” Kyly says. “We love traveling in France and now my love of exploring the country is part of my business research.”

The couple has fallen in love with New Orleans. “It’s such a unique city,” she continues. “I love the free feeling one has here; it is easy to have a happy time with family and friends. Here there is layer upon layer of unique history, culture and heritage.”

It seems only fitting that a couple that loves all things French ended up in a city with such a rich French heritage. “It just continues my love of all things French. Marcel Proust, the famous French novelist, critic and essayist said: “My favorite occupation is loving.” I agree with him and I marvel that Aidan and Ella are speaking French fluently and I love that I never run out of French sweets to enjoy.”

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A blog by Bonnie Warren

About

A former Editor of New Orleans Magazine, Bonnie was City Editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine and Metropolitan Home magazines for more than two decades. She is a former food critic and Editor of HomeSmart of Gambit, a weekly newspaper in New Orleans. She was the founding editor of New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles.

A winner of numerous writing awards from New Orleans Press Club, her claim to fame (in the eyes of her then young son) came when she received the First-Place Award for "Best Sports Column," for writing weekly human interest columns about Saints professional football players for Gridweek, a weekly sports newspaper. She also won First-Place Awards for feature and business articles for her writing in New Orleans Magazine (NOM).

Bonnie has contributed to more than two-dozen other publications, including Playboy, InStyle, Woman's Day, Country Inns, Redbook, Architectural Digest, and National Enquirer. She currently contributes to every issue of New Orleans and Louisiana Life magazines, and she also writes for Country Roads, Louisiana Cookin', Louisiana Travel, and Gulf Coast Wine + Dine Magazine.